Native Americans plan to protest Redskins game

GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) — The Washington Redskins could face protesters as well as the Green Bay Packers when they play at Lambeau Field on Sunday.

Press-Gazette Media reported Tuesday that some Native Americans plan to protest during the game because they consider “redskins” a derogatory term.

“We support effectively removing all race-based stereotypes,” said Barb Munson of Mosinee, a member of the Oneida Tribe of Indians of Wisconsin and the Wisconsin Indian Education Association’s Mascot and Logo Taskforce.

The Indian Education Association has scheduled a session on the issue Friday at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, and several members plan to protest at the game on Sunday.

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The Oneida Tribe of Indians of Wisconsin is one of the Packers’ major sponsors, with Lambeau Field’s east entry gate named for the Oneida Nation. The tribe has taken a position objecting to the Redskins’ name but does not plan to participate in the protest, tribal business committee member Brandon Stevens said.

Stevens said the tribe opposes mascots and images that disrespect Native Americans, including the Washington team name and logo, but members feel attitudes must change before progress can be made.

“We’re actively and proactively creating an avenue of education and seeking out remedies to see how we can come to an understanding where the offender isn’t the one dictating what the intent of the mascot is,” he said.

Oneida members in upstate New York have started a radio ad campaign urging the Redskins to change their name and logo.

Oneida Nation representative Ray Halbritter says in the ad that NFL commissioner Roger Goodell should “stand up to bigotry” and oppose “the racial slur” in the team’s name.

“We do not deserve to be called redskins,” Halbritter says in the ad. “We deserve to be treated as what we are — Americans.”

The ads are just the latest criticism of the team’s name. Ten members of Congress sent letters to Redskins owner Dan Snyder and Goodell in May, urging them to rename the team. Snyder has vowed to keep the name.